The Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu Read Free Book Online Page A

Stanford—back to writing yet more grants, dealing with recalcitrant students and colleagues—but with these new mummies found, it was the perfect excuse for Owen to request her presence once again. And to get the Taiwanese government to pay for it.
    Miri pushed open the narrow swinging door and entered a small cavern, dark and musty with books and bones and the various relics her mentor had collected over the past eight weeks. He had more in America, all locked up in storage, a product of being a pack rat— everywhere he went, he collected and stored and accumulated. She loved Owen’s office, here and elsewhere. It might not have windows, but the warm glow of his lamps, the scent of the air, and the crinkle of his papers always instilled in her a sense of home.
    She found him hunched over his desk, gray hair tufted and wild as he gazed through a large stationary magnifying glass. A light shone down past his head, illuminating something small and red in his hands. As Miri neared she heard him humming “Rhinestone Cowboy” under his breath. A good find, then. Glen Campbell rated nothing less, “You’ve been busy,” she said.
    “You have no idea,” he replied, without looking up from the magnifying lens. “The results came back on the X-rays early this morning. The men were relatively normal—some badly healed bones, missing teeth— but the woman was different. She had something... strange inside her.”
    “Strange?” Miri echoed, peering over his shoulder. Owen turned his head. His blue eyes were bright, his cheeks flushed.
    “Strange,” he said again. “She had something embedded in her chest. Really, truly, embedded. Her flesh had grown over the edges of the thing. It was the devil to pry out.”
    “Is that it?” Miri asked, gesturing at the object cradled in his hands. It had a waxy sheen; nephrite, by the looks of it. Red jade. From this vantage point it appeared to be a beautiful specimen; high quality, most definitely chosen with care.
    “Remarkable,” Miri murmured. “Almost as remarkable as your terrible manners.”
    Owen flinched. “Miri—”
    “Did you bother telling anyone that you were going to perform an invasive procedure on that body? Did you, Owen? Or did you just go gung ho?”
    Owen said nothing. Miri had another terrible thought, a horrible premonition, and she said, “Oh. Oh, Owen. Tell me you contacted Kevin first. Please . If you didn’t get permission—”
    “Kevin Liao is a nincompoop. Of course I didn’t contact him. He would have ripped into that woman like a lumberjack with a chain saw. Destroyed her body just like he ruined that child we found in Alishan. I could not let that happen. Besides “—and Owen looked away, voice dropping to a mutter—”he’s out of town.”
    “Out of town looking for more grave sites.”
    “Of course. He can’t stand that I found those mummies.”
    “His ego is mighty,” Miri agreed, “but he’s also the head of this department, and like it or not, you are a guest. Back home you might rule the roost, but the rules are different here. I don’t care how much of a celebrity you are.”
    “You used to be such a rebel,” Owen said. “You never played it safe. What happened?”
    “You became an even bigger rebel than me. Which means you’re totally out of control.”
    “Ah. My golden years. Well, regardless, you needn’t fret, my dear. I did find those mummies, and that gives me some claim to first examination, regardless of the gnashing of teeth that might cause.”
    “Oh, there’s going to be gnashing, all right,” Miri muttered.
    Owen patted her hand. “It’s been hours since I extracted the artifact. The man has probably already found out what I did. His little spies, as you can guess, have been in and out of the lab all morning. I haven’t yet heard a single complaint.”
    The assistants. Kevin’s eyes and ears. The man wanted to make sure Owen did not try and steal his research during his brief forays away from the